The Secret Life Of Caius Volturi
by greenaardvark
Summary: To the world, he was a king; a tyrannical leader to an undead race...but to me he was something else...
1. Heartbreak

Bella

What do I do now...

All that was left to do was to sit on the forest floor. He had left me. The only man that I had ever loved. I had given him everything. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I must have known. I must have suspected. How could someone like him ever love me. It was stupid to kid myself into believing his lie. To him I was nothing more than a play thing. Someone to occupy his mind for the time being. And now that time had ended. I heard his voice over and over in my head, the sound of it already seeming to loose it's potency, but it made the words hurt no less...

"Bella, I don't want you to come..."

What do I do now...

It had begun to get dark, and the damp log that I had been sitting on had soaked through my jeans and had extended it's icy grip into my seat. Charlie would be worried. There was no doubt that he had gotten back from the station now, and yet, I could not bring myself to move. I was still just inside the edge of the forest. Chasing after him would have only been a fruitless endeavor; no I was quite content to wallow in my misery for the time being. I could hear Charlie calling my name now, but I didn't bother answering. All I wanted to do was get get lost in these woods.

"Bella!"

Please don't see me...

'BELLA!"

Please don't see me...

Please...

I could hear the sound of footsteps coming towards me.

"Bella, what are you doing out here? Jeez you're soaked! What happened?"

I just sat there.

"Bella, are you okay? You're scaring me."

"Edward," I finally managed to croak, "He..."

"He what? Did he hurt you? If he laid a finger on you I'm gonna..."

"No."

"No he didn't hurt you, or no it wasn't him?"

More silence.

"Come on Kid," Charlie said after a few moments, "let's get you inside."

He reached out a hand to me, but quickly realized it was a pointless gesture, and scooped me into his arms. He struggled slightly to keep his footing, as the rain had picked up, making everything more slippery. He plopped me onto the sofa, not seeming to care about the dampness of my clothing. I curled onto my side and into fetal position. Charlie returned after a few minutes with a mug of tea, placed it onto the coffee table, and sat down on the armchair beside me.

"Bells..."

"Just leave me alone."

"..."

"Please...I just want to be left alone."

I spent the night on the sofa, staying awake till the early hours of the morning, before finally falling into a restless slumber. Charlie hadn't talked to me. I had probably angered him, but at this point he was just another man in my life that I had disappointed. He had already left for work, not before calling in to the school and telling them that I would not be attending today. He did not bother saying good morning, as both of us would have known it was a lie. Instead the only word spoken was a worry filled 'goodbye' before his departure.

I stared at the mug of tea. It had been left overnight, but I didn't care. I reached for it, downing it all at one go, the overly potent earl grey helping to soothe the burn in my throat.

The majority of my day was spent puttering around the empty house, wondering what exactly I had done wrong. I played the days over and over in my mind. All of the dates, all of the hours that I had spent in their house, the dinner's that Esme had cooked me while Carlisle had stood by her side, talking about the news that day, the shopping trips that Alice had dragged me on. There was so much that we had all done together.

An hour before Charlie came home I found myself in the Kitchen. I began to chop vegetables, and thaw out some fish. I wasn't really paying attention to the task at hand, I had only wanted to keep my hands busy. I heard the front door open and close, and the sound of boots being kicked off, a jacket being aimlessly thrown onto the coat rack.

"You're boiling fish?" Charlie said, seemingly more to himself that to me. I looked down at the pot, sure enough seeing the fish bobbing in the water. The vegetables that I had cut were still on the cutting board, with what appeared to be the marinade meant for the fish generously coating them. I turned to look at Charlie.

"He left me."


	2. Month Four

Bella

Four months, that's how long it took me. In that time, I was in a perpetual state of melancholy. I went to school, I did my homework, I cooked dinner for Charlie, I went to work, and the rest of the world seemed to move on with out me. I was just stuck. I was left alone in my own little world, that is until I met Jake. Jacob black was an old friend, bairly older than 16. He had come into Newtons for some sort of tool. I had hardly even noticed that it was him until He called my name.

"Bella!"

He was tall for his age, and was clad in old jeans stained with who knows what, and a green flannel. His hair was long, black, and tied into a low knot at the base of his head.

"J-Jacob?" I asked.

"Yeah, how have you been? I haven't seen you since that beach trip." he replied with an ear-to-ear smile.

"Yeah, I guess it has been a while huh?"

"Yeah...well, anyways, I'm looking for a set of imperial allen keys, any chance you could help me out?"

"Sure, just follow me please."

I lead him to the end of the isle and towards the far corner of the store.

"These are all of our tools," I said pointing to the two rows of shelves.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Yeah, actually I could really use a hand with my social life. Any chance you wanna grap a pizza tomorrow?"

I stared blankly at him

"Have you got a pen?"

I pulled a pen out of my red uniform vest.

"Thanks," he said, scribbling something down onto the back of the recipt,"This is my phone number, how about you give me a call sometime?"

"Sure."

"Okay," he smiled.

I didn't know what I was doing here. I leaned against the outside of my truck string through the window of the pizza place, debating on weather or not I should go inside. I could see happy patrons eating and smiling under the warm lights. Glasses clinking and couples laughing. Edward never would have taken me here. He said that it was not good enough. I wondered now weather he was talking about me or about himself when he said that. It didn't matter now though. Edward wasn't here. I drew in the crisp February air, slow and deep. I felt like I was being watched. I turned to look over my shoulder, and swore that I had seen someone there a moment ago, but the streak of blonde hair that had been caught in my peripheral was gone now.

Dinner had gone well; better than I would have. I had been prepaired for frequent bouts of akward silence, and yet so such thing happened. He was easy to talk to, needing only the slightest of nudges to keep the conversation going. He had finished the Rabbit, and had invited me on the maiden voyage.I had agreed with almost no hesitation. It was so easy to be around Jacob. He was such a happy person. His presence alone culd light up a room. I couldn't help but be affected by his positive demeanor. It was the best mood I had been in for a long while. It was almost like the hole in my chest had began to heal when I was with him. We had stayed quite late for a Monday. It was well past midnight by the time I had goten home. I had expected Charlie to be unhappy with my comming home so late, but As I came into the house, I only found him asleep on the sofa, Sport Network still blairing on the television, and a half finished can of beer accompaning the empty bag of chips that were left on the coffee table. I turned off the televosion and threw a blanket over him, hoping that his back wouldn't be too sore tomorrow, then went up the stairs to get ready for bed.

Once inside the bathroom I began to disrobe throwing my dirty clothing into the hamper in the corner of the room. I untied my hair and began to pull a brush through it, untangling the suprising amount of knots that had formed througout the day. I looked in the morror. I had lost weight since September, more than I had origonally thought, evident by the pale skin that streached over my coller bone. I turned on the water, letting it pound down my back as I washed. The hear felt good after the cold night air.

I pulled on a pair of panties and an old green T-shirt that Edward had left behind, and never bothered to return for. I had worn it almost every night since he had left. I padded barefoot into my room, and took the half full sketch book out of my bedside table. I laid sideways on my bed and continued the drawing that I was working on. It was another picture of Edward. I had never been big into drawing before, but I had soon realized that I had only one picture of him, which he had taken before leaving. I wanted to remeber every detail of him. I had also made many drawings of his family members, as well as a few of Charlie and my Mom. This perticular sketch was of him leaning up against that silver Volvo, dressed in the green shirt that I was now wearing. I had taped a few of my favorite pieces to the walls of my room. One was of him and I, the time he had comvinced me to go hiking, one of the few sunny days. We had taken a trail not too far from the high school so that I could be back for biology class before the end of lunch. I had twisted my ankle on the way back to the school, and he had piggy-backed me, walking at human speed through the trees; patches of his dimond skin reflecting the sunlight as the leaves were blown aside by the autumn wind, feet crunching against the dry leaves. Another one was of Alice and Jasper, her having playfully pinned him to the grass earlier that summer. The one that had turned out best though was of Charlie and Mom. It was based off of a photo that they had taken in Santa Monica back when thay had first met. Charlie said that it had been their first trip together, the nostalgic glint in his eye hard to miss.

Aside from the pictures on the wall, my room looked un-lived in. The floors were bare, and the desk clear of everything but a computor, a lamp, and a few pencils sitting meatly in their clay holder.

As the hour ticked past two, my eyelids began to droop. I tucked the book back into its drawer, and turned off the lights. I curled onto my side and pulled the covers over myself. Even after four months, my bed still felt empty without him. I didn't sleep well anymore. I was constantly plagued by nightmares, ast still often woke up screaming. For the firstfew weeks Charlie had come in every time he had heard me, afraid that someone had broken in, but over time he had done it less and less, edventually stopping altogether. I had heard him stumbling up the stairs around a half an hour ago.

I woke abruptly around 4:30, and after a pointless atempt to fall back asleep, I got out of bed around six. I showered, brushed my teeth, and padded back to my room to don a pair of faded jeans, and a striped, long sleved, cotton shirt. I tied my hair into a loose, low bun. I went down the stairs and into the kitchen. I made myself a cup of tea, and got started on some oatmeal for Charlie. It was almost finished when he came down the stairs alread dressen in his uniform.

"What's this?" he said with a yawn.

"Breakfast."

He began to scoop some into a bowl. "You had some already?"

"I'm not hungry,"I replied.

"You should eat something Bell."

"Really, I'm good," I said raising my tea mug into view.

Charlie ate quietly as I packed my bag for school. I bid him goodbye, pulling on my rubber boots.

"You know it's only 7:30 right?" Charlie called after me as I closed the door. It was not yet raining, but the clouds were heavy as I turned on my truck. I drove towards the school, passed it, and towards the edge of town, looking for the overgrown turn-off.


	3. The House

Bella

I drove down the overgrown lane towards the house. Aside from the ever growing collection of dust, everything was the same as it had been when they left. I liked coming here sometimes. I would usually just sit on the porch steps and look out over the lawn, but something felt different this morning. It was the same feeling I'd had standing outside the pizza place; like I was being watched. I thought I could almost hear footsteps coming from inside the old house. I stood up from the step and walked closer to the door to see if I could hear anything.

"You'd best leave if you what's good for you."

I jumped back, startled by the sudden voice. I jumped off of the steps and bolted to my truck. Standing at the window was a blond male, clad in only black dress pants. I revved my truck to life, turned tightly, and drove back up the lane.

I drove towards the school. It had begun to rain now, the fat drops pelting my windshield. There were so many thoughts running through my head. Had they sold the house? Had they come back? Was this man one a new member to the clan? Who was he? Was he just a squatter? Most importantly...was he a vampire?

School dragged...then work dragged. I found myself in the stock room simply to pass the time. I organized, then I reorganized what had already been done. There was only half of an hour until my shift was over. I went back onto the floor, bringing a mop with me, and began to wipe away boot prints.

"Miss, have you a moment to speak with me?"

"Of course sir. What can I..." It was him, the man in the Cullen's living room. His features were flawless, and his skin the color of alabaster. His eyes which were violet (likely the result of blue contacts), burned into mine.

"How did you know where I was?" He whispered angrily.

"Mike!?"

"How do you know what I am?"

"MIKE!"

Mike came running around the corner of the isle. "Jeez Bella, you don't have to scream," he said with a bit of a laugh, "What's up?"

"Could you help me with this gentlemen please? You know more about specialty tools than I do."

"Of course," Mike turned to look at the man, but he was already gone, "Where did he go? Weird."

"Mike can you do me a favor?" I asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Don't let him in the store. There's something wrong with him."

"What are you talking about? I didn't see anything wrong with him Besides I can't just..."

"Mike please..."

"Did he say something to you? Because if he did we should call Charlie and..."

"No!" I struggled to control my volume, "Don't call Charlie. Just keep away from him. Don't let him in the store.

"Bella, what's..."

"Can you please just do this for me Mike?"

"O-Okay," Mike said, seeming thoroughly freaked out.

"I have to go," I said putting the mop away.

"But we still have 15 minutes!" Mike hollered after me.

I can't go home, I thought to myself as I walked across the parking lot, still wearing my red vest. The only thing protecting Me in the shop was the presence of of everyone else. It was too conspicuous of a place to kill me, but at home, where it was only Charlie and I, under the cover of night, I would only put him in danger. I got into my truck, looking thought the window back at the lit storefront, when a strong cold hand clamped over my mouth.

"Don't scream, or I'll have to kill you," he whispered in my ear before removing his hand, "Drive to the house."

I turned the key and slowly pressed the accelerator, exiting the lot. There was nothing else I could do.

I drove up the winding drive way to the Cullen house, pulling it off to the side of the road. I turned off my truck, and in a flash, he was at my door, opening it for me. He waited for me to lock the door before placing a hand on the small of my back, leading me into the house. I wasn't sure what he wanted, or what he was doing here, but he hadn't killed me yet, and that could only be taken as a good sign. He lead me thought the foyer and into the dining room, pulling out a chair for me. He was more polite than I had expected, but something about that only put me more on edge. He sat next to me, at what would be the head of the table, leaning towards me, forearms braced against the table. He was quite beautiful actually. His pale smooth skin stretched over angular cheekbones, the pale blonde locks of hair that framed his face, and the way the fabric of his dress shirt pulled tightly against his biceps. I felt myself wondering about the color of his eyes without the distortion of the contacts; the exact shade of red.

"Who are you?" his asked, his voice snapping me back to the present moment.

"Bella Swan," I answered stupidly, "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Caius Volturi. And what do I want?" he seemed to smirk for a second before becoming serious again, "Right now I want to be the one asking the questions. Is that something simple enough for your dull human mind to understand?"

I nodded.

"Who are you?"

"Isabella Marie Swan."

"But you're not important. You're not immortal, you have no special power, you're just...simple. Completely ordinary."

He seemed to no longer be talking to me.

"Why would anyone even bother with you? Why tell you? Of everyone in this town..."

"I don't know..." I said, feeling more and more broken as he kept talking.

"Don't take it personally Isabella Marie Swan, I would consider you quite attractive as humans go. Although that doesn't quite seem to be what is offending you."

I sat quietly, looking at the table.

"Back to questions then," he said, "How did you know where I was?"

"I didn't know you were here," I replied quietly.

"Then why were you here?"

"I like to come here sometimes. I don't know why."

"You're scent still lingers all over this house. You knew who lived there. You knew the Cullens"

"Yes."

"And you knew what they were? What we are?"

"Yes."

"And yet you stayed. Why?"

"Edward...I l-l-..." I could feel tears streaming down my cheeks, "We were...it didn't matter to me," I as finally able to spit out.

"And now I see why you are upset. You were left behind, weren't you? How long has it been now?

"Four months, and three days."

"And he had no intention of changing you?

I shook my head.

"You didn't want to then?"

"He didn't want to."

"Then I must tell you that he did not love you as much as you thought he did."

"I got the message loud and clear. Especially after he told me outright."

"And yet you yearn for him."

I stayed silent for a moment.

"What do you want with me? Are you going to kill me?" I finally asked.

"I don't know yet. I can however assure you that I will not be letting you out of my sight," Caius looked at his watch, "It's late."

He was right. It was past eleven.

"I need to call my Dad. He'll be wondering where I am. And I don't think that either of us want him to come around here looking."

"Call, and lie to your father."


	4. Bouyancy

Bella

I called Charlie and told him that Mike and I would be cramming all night for a history test at his place. He put up no fuss, and if anything was happy to have me out of the house and doing something "normal" for a change.

It had been so long since I had been inside this house. I had always stayed on the porch before, never brave enough to enter. It no longer felt like home, the buoyant atmosphere now long gone. A light layer of dust now coated the tabletops in the dark house. Everything appeared to have been left behind...just like me. There was no happiness here anymore. It was just a house. That was the worst part of it. I remembered so clearly the times spent here. I used to sit on the sofa in the family room and play video games with Emmet. Alice used to drag me up the stairs in the foyer and into her room, where she would torture me with endless piles of beauty products, and just about every issue of 16 magazine that had ever been published. Room by room, I went through, until stopping at Edwards door. Should I expect it to be the same as the other rooms? I didn't know if it would be worse to see it empty or undisturbed. My hand ghosted at the door nob, but I could not bring myself to open the door. Tears rolled freely and shamelessly down my cheeks. I couldn't bring myself to care if Caius thought I was weak, after all, I was probably dead in his eyes anyway. I sat with my back against the door, knees curled to my chest, and arm wrapped around them. A month after he left, I began to think that maybe, with time, that the pain might start to subside. I thought that by keeping the memories I had with him alive, that maybe I could feel less alone. I would always have memories of him, and he could never take that away from me, or at least I thought. As the time passed I thought that this pain might start to subside, but it didn't. It's like the longer I spend away from him, the worse it gets. Pulling the pen from my vest, I begin to draw on the inside of my wrist. I trace the basic shape of his eye, pushing hard into my skin, welcoming the ache as I ink along my skin. After his eye I moved to his brow, then to his hair. Before long I began to grow tired. Tucking the pen back into my vest. Leaning onto my side on the floor, I tucked my right arm under my head, and pulled my knees close, and before long I was asleep.

The grey light shining through the window told me that it was nearly one in the afternoon. I stretched and clambered to my feet. I made my way down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Took you long enough," I could hear Caius say from the kitchen, "Thought you would sleep all day."

"Sorry," I yawned as I walked into the kitchen.

"Catch," he said, throwing a bag of something my way. Startled I jumped back, letting the bag fall to the floor. "Good catch."

He smirked.

I picked up the bag, turning over to read the pretzel label.

"Where did these come from?" I asked.

"They were in the cupboard. We can't have you passing out. I wouldn't be much of a captor if I let you starve to death," He said with a bit of a chuckle. I just stared at him, a little surprised to hear him joking.

"Please do tell me you at least have a little sense of humor, otherwise this is going to be very dull."

I leaned against the counter beside him wordlessly, opening the bag of pretzels and nibbling on one.

"I'm beginning to grasp that conversation is not really your strong suit."

"It's hard to keep a conversation with someone who views you as lunch."

"You're really more of a snack."

"Hence the pretzels?"

"Hence the pretzels."

I couldn't help but grin a little at the stupidity on the conversation.

"So she does smile.

"Feels weird."

"What does?"

"Smiling."

"Then perhaps you should practice more often. What did he do to you anyways?"

I was silent for a moment. The smile immediately dropping form my lips.

"Nothing."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"Why am I here?"

"Because our laws require it."

"Vampires have laws?"

"Only a few. One of the core laws, is that no human is to know of our kind. Occasionally, if the human were to show potential, he or she would be changed, but it is uncommon. Most likely they become what you would refer to as 'lunch.'"

"You want to see if I have potential then?"

"Essentially. You're braver than the others. Almost all of them ran, but you never even seemed to consider it."

"It wasn't that hard really. Besides, I fall down a lot when I run."

He laughed, "I'd like to see that."

After a few moments he broke the silence.

"You don't know who I am, do you?"

"Was I supposed to?"

"No, I don't see why you would. It's just...unusual is all."

"Why? Are you like a lord or something?"

"Worse."

"A duke?"

"I'm a king."


	5. Royalty

Bella

A king. He had explained it all to me. The guards, the laws, everything.

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked.

"Well, if we change you, these are things you will need to know."

"And If you kill me?"

"Well than it won't metter all that much then will it?"

I had a feeling that there was more to it.

"In case you've forgotten, this is the part where you run."

"And where exactally would I go?" I replied snarkily. If I was dead anyways, what was the point of manners? I could begin to feel all of the tension and anger and betrayal of these past few months fill me. It was like a poison, killing all of the courtasy I had left. I was done running. "The Cullens are gone, along with my boyfriend, whom according to you 'did not love me as much as I thought he did.' I can't go to to my father without getting him killed in the process. The same goes to any friends I might have made, not that I have any right now, since I was too busy being 'brave' about the Cullens!"

"Feeling bitter are we?" he asked, seeming more than a little amused.

"I'm sorry," I said, eyes glued to the floor, "I don't know why I lost my temper."

He walked swiftly towards me, taking my chin in one hand, forcing my eyes to meet his. I could not help but flinch away.

"Do not ever apologise for well deserved hatred. Especially not to me."

He released me and turned away and left the kitchen without another word.

Caius

I went up the stairs two at a time. I wanted to clear my mind. What was she doing to me? Normally I would have killed a human for even looking at me in a displeasing way, and yet here she was, heart still beating only a floor between us. The logical part of my mind had been yelling to end this, and be done with the girl forever, yet I have allowed her to live.

Why? Why? Why?

She was just a human, and a tasty smelling one at that. It should have been easy. But instead I watched her. I waited until she was alone, and then I took her; even though I could have easily handled the witnesses in that shop she worked at. They would have been dead before her body hit the floor. But that's not what I did. I brought her back to the Cullen house. I questioned her, even though I didn't care about the response.

When I had heard her crying out last night, I had gone up to see the cause. Seeing her splayed across the floor at the foot of Edward's door should not irritated me in such the way that it had. Instead finding such a human display disgraceful, I felt pity for the girl, along with the slighest pang of jelousy for the boy.

My wife...

My now ex-wife had never felt such amounts of emotion for me; not even close.

I kept making that mistake. I still thought of her as mine. It had been only a few weeks since I had found Felix fornicating with the damned harlet. After storming out Athenadora had folllowed me down the hall, a bedsheet sloppiy draped around herself, explaining how my lack of affection had driven her into the arms of my guard, which of course was the begining of a very loud screaming match. We had been together over two centuries, and I had never lost my temper to that extent with here even in the room, let alone with her on the receving end. I had been better to her than most were to their wives even now. I brought her back jewles or trinkets everytime I had come back from a long mission. I had supplied a sufficent home for a lady of her status, and I never beat her or used excessivly harsh words in her presence.

After she left Aro began to question me. He thought that my empotions had begun to cloud my judgement. He suggested that I take leave until the divorce was final. I thought that the idea was abusrd. There was work to do, and I hadn't the time for a vacation, but as the weeks passed he grew ever mote persistant. Finally after I'd had enouh of the irritation I had agreed so long as he found a place for me to stay for the durration of my leave. The next morning he'd proveded me a key that Carslile had overnighted him to the house in Forks. I'd only been here a few days before the girl had found me. Not that I had really been hiding in the first place.

Why her?

I pulled a cell phone out of my trousers and dialed the volturi castle, and heard the voice of our receptionest after only the first ring.

"Buon pomeriggio, come posso aiutarla?"

"Mettere Marcus al telefono," I replied.

I heard the hold music.

"Greetings brother. How are you?" I heard Marcus say into the telephone.

"I am comfused," I explainded to him the situation. He chuckled into the phone.

"Have I said something amusing brother?" I asked into the telephone, the irritation clear in my voice.

"You haven't a clue as to why you are infacutated with this woman?" He asked, his tone maing it seem as though it should be obvious.

"If I had known, I would not be bothering you with such questions."

"If you are asking me weather or not there is a bond between you and the human, based on the information you have given me, the answer would be yes. Bonds are tricky things, and will occur often without reason or rhyme. But you ask the wrong questions."

"Then tell me what question to ask, so that I may end this conversation."

"There are many types of bonds..."

"And what kind is this? Is that the question I must ask?"

"I could not say for sure without being there to sence for myself, but what you tell me sounds of a romantic nature..."

"That is absurd. I took her hostage, not out for tea."

"Yes Caius, you took her hostage instead of killing her. When was the last time ethat happened? Has it ever happened? Couldn't kill her. You have said as much."

"Just because I have not killed her yet, does not mean I am unable."

"Then why have you not?"

I had no logical answer.

"Good day Marcus. You have been most helpful," I finally said into the telephone.

"I wish you luck brother."

There was only one thing to do now. I had to test the theory.


End file.
